USA > South Carolina > The Jews of South Carolina, from the earliest times to the present day > Part 7
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situation of affairs, to request your Honor will send out a flag, in the name of the people, intimating their acquiescence in the terms propounded. " CHARLESTOWN, 10th May, 1780."
[Three hundred names are attached to this petition. Among them are:] Markes Lazarus, Solomon Aaron, Philip Minis, Is Da Costa, Jr., Joseph Solomons (x.), Gershon Cohen, Jacob Jacobs, Zadok Solomo, Meyer Moses, Joseph de Palacios, Philip Hart, David Sarzedas, Abraham Moses, Joseph De Palacios, Joseph Myers (x.).
II.
" To the Honorable Major General Lincoln
" The Humble petition of divers Country Militia on behalf of them- selves and others their fellow citizens- " Sheweth
" That your petitioners being inform'd the difficulties that arose in the negotiation yesterday and the day preceding related wholly to the Citizens to whom the British commanders offered their estates and to admit them to their parole as prisoners of war, and your petitioners understanding it as an indisputable proposition that they can derive no advantage from a perseverance in resistance, with every thing that is dear to them at stake, they think it their indispensable duty in this perilous situation of affairs, to request your Honor will send out a Flag in the name of the people intimating their acquiescence in the terms proposed."
[ Here are appended the names of field-officers and men-in all three hundred and forty-six names, among which are the following :]
Philip Moses, Abraham Cohen, Myer Salomons, Moses Harris, Philip Jacob Cohen, Jacob Moses, Juda Abrahams, Moses Cohen, Emanuel Abra- hams, Samuel Polak, Samuel Jones, Barnard Moses, Junr., J. Cohen, Samuel Mordecai.
We have on this last petition the names of fourteen Charles Town Jews who served in the militia during the siege. There are several others whose names have come down to us.
A Revolutionary "Orderly Book" in the New York Public Library27 that covers a period of several months, beginning
" Discovered among the uncalendared MSS. and identified by the author.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
with March, 1780, makes mention of the following Jews as members of the Charles Town Regiment of Militia: David Sarsadas (Sarzedas), Myers Solomon, Frederick Jacobs, Philip Hart, Sampson Simon (Simons). Phillip Minas (Mi- nis), Zodiaek Solomon, and Solomon Polock.
Of these, David Sarzedas had seen service in Savannah. His widow was afterwards pensioned.28 He came to Charles Town together with several other Savannah Jews after the fall of that city in 1779.
Philip Minis likewise came to Charles Town in 1779 and was a resident of that city for several years. He had ren- dered service to the Revolutionary cause in Georgia, and was one of those mentioned in the Disqualifying Act of Georgia passed in May, 1780, "disqualifying the parties in- dicated, and rendering them ever afterwards incapable of holding or exercising any office of trust, honor or profit within the limits of Georgia.'' 29
Markes Lazarus saw service in 1776, 1779, and 1780. He was a sergeant-major and was one of the petitioners to Clin- ton in 1780. His record is preserved among those of appli- cants for pensions in the Bureau of Pensions at Wash- ington,30
David Nunez Cardozo was also a sergeant-major. We have already taken note of him.
Abraham Seixas was a captain of militia in Charles Town,
2 See A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services * (Washington, 1841.)
Jones: History of Georgia, Vol. 2, pp. 421-3. The name of Philip Jacob Cohen is likewise found on this list.
" " Mr. Lazarus was an actor in some of the eventful scenes of the Revolution and earned the distinction of a single-minded and zealous patriot."-Obituary notice in The Southern Patriot, Nov. 7, 1835.
The Census of Pensioners shows the following Jewish names: Rachel Lazarus (Mrs. Markes Lazarus), Sarah Cardozo (Mrs. David N. Car- dozo), Rebecca Cohen (Mrs. Gershon Cohen), Judith Abrahams (Mrs. Emanuel Abrahams), Dr. Sarzedas, and Moses Harris.
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THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
but fought as a lieutenant in the Continental Line in Geor- gia. His prayer-book, now in the possession of the author, contains several pages of family records in his own hand- writing, and relates, among other things, that he was "ban- ish'd from Chs Town as disaffected to British Govt and ar- rived in Philada, 29th May, 1782.'' 31 He returned to Charleston after peace had been declared.
Joseph Solomon, we have already seen, was killed at the battle of Beaufort.
Jacob Cohen, we are told in the Diary of Josiah Smith, Jr., was "one of the prisoners on parole, that were sent on board the prison ship Torbay and Schooner Pack Horse, the 17th of May, 1781." It is worthy of note that his name is not mentioned in any of the lists of these prisoners in Garden, Ramsay, Drayton, Gibbes, or MeCrady. It is confirmed, however, by a British list of these prisoners on file in Wash- ington.32
" In the Diary of Josiah Smith, Jr., he is mentioned in the following interesting note:
"November 1782. Mordecai Sheftal of Georgia having found Friends in Philadelphia to Assist him in the purchase of a Shallop, Something less in Size than Mr. Savage's, by application thro. a friend at New York, he also readily obtain'd a Flagg and Passports from Admiral Digby and was allowed to take with him about 100 Barrils of Flour, Bread, &c, for Savannah, and having fully Stuffed his vessel I may truly Say, with Goods and Passengers he departed hence on the Instant, besides his own family, there was Ab. Sexias and family, Capt. Wm. Hall and Wife, Capt Albuoy and wife, and some Single Men, amount- ing in all to Persons to whom I most heartily wich a safe and Speedy Passage." (P. 163.)
32
Boogher: Gleanings of Virginia History (Washington, D. C., 1903),
pp. 226-227.
Curious, indeed, is the mistake that has been made in connection with this Jacob Cohen. In 1839 the heirs of Captain Jacob Cohen ( Cowen), of Cumberland County, Virginia, memorialized the 26th Congress for compensation for the service of their father as captain of a com- pany of troopers of the Virginia Continental Line. This British list of prisoners confined on the British ship Torbay was filed, together with
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
There is but one name more and the story is complete as far as our present knowledge of the records goes. The name is that of Joseph Marques or Marquise, a member of the 6th Regiment, South Carolina Line.33
There are a few other names that have come down to us traditionally. They are mentioned here merely because they have gone the rounds of the newspapers and the books, and are stamped as quasi-authoritative by the American Jewish Historical Society.
Mordecai Manuel Noah, of South Carolina (1747-1825), is said to have served with General Marion and also on the staff of General Washington.3* He is represented as having contributed £20,000 to the Revolutionary cause.
Jacob De La Motta is said to have been a captain on Gen- eral Pulaski's staff.35 It would be interesting to know who this Jacob De La Motta was. The records do not show this name till long after the Revolutionary period.
Emanuel De La Motta, we are told, "served in the Revo- lution and in the War of 1812. In recognition of his valor as displayed in battle he was promoted from the ranks to a military position of honor." 36 Confirmation of this story is lacking.
an enormous number of exhibits and depositions, in substantiation of the claim. The exhibits prove conclusively that there was a Captain Jacob Cohen in the Virginia Continental Line, but there is no evidence whatsoever that he is the Jacob Cohen of the Torbay. all of these prisoners belonged to the militia of North and South Carolina. The claim was rightly disallowed. (See Congressional Globe, First Session 26th Congress, p. 239.) Jacob Cohen, of the Torbay, was the son of Moses Cohen, the first Chief Rabbi of the Congregation Beth Elohim, and was the President of this Congregation in 1790, who wrote the historic letter to Washington.
33 The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine for April, 1904, pp. 87-8.
34 Wolf : The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen, p. 51. 35 Ibid. 36 Ibid.
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Israel De Lieben is also supposed to have risen from the ranks "to a military position of honor and trust. '' 37
Jacob I. Cohen, we are informed, "went to Charleston in 1783 [sic] and during the campaign which followed, took part as a volunteer soldier in the Continental army, serving under Moultrie and Lincoln. Frequent references to Mr. Cohen are found in the Madison Papers, and his valuable services are repeatedly adverted to." 38
Under the heading "South Carolina Jewish Patriots" Mr. Kohler reprints from The Occident 39 the oft-repeated story of a company of soldiers who did good service in the defence of Charleston Harbor and who were nearly all, if not all, Jews.40 The original writer of the paragraph says: "The names of Daniel W. Cardozo, Jacob I. Cohen, Sr., and Isaiah Isaacs, we think, must have been on the roll of that company. * Sheftall Sheftall, Isaac N. Cardozo, a brother of David, and Colonel Bush, occur to us just now as brave soldiers in the Revolution. "' 11
Jacob De Leon, we are informed, was "a distinguished officer of the War of the Revolution.42 He served as captain on the staff of General DeKalb, and when the latter was mortally wounded at the battle of Camden, S. C., De Leon, in company with Major Benjamin Nones and Captain Jacob De La Motta, of the staff, carried De Kalb from the field. "> 43
37 Wolf: The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen, p. 50.
29 Ibid., p. 47.
39 The Occident, Vol. 16, p. 142.
" Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, Vol. 4, p. 96.
" Daniel W. Cardozo is probably David Nunez Cardozo, we do not know of any Isaiah Isaacs in South Carolina, Sheftall Sheftall belonged to Savannah, Isaac N. Cardozo is not of record, and Colonel Bush be- longed to Pennsylvania.
"2 Wolf: The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen, p. 50.
43 This story of Captain Jacob De Leon is one of the many myths of the Jews of South Carolina. The most diligent inquiry and research, continued for many months, failed to discover the date of Jacob De
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Leaving tradition, let us now return to the records. Be- fore resuming, however, let us make this observation,-com- monplace, in truth, but ignored by latter-day writers,-that
Leon's birth or death, or the place of his burial. He was followed up in the records till 1828, when all trace of him was lost. His tombstone was finally discovered by the author in an old, abandoned cemetery in Columbia, S. C. The inscription reads as follows:
"Sacred | to the Memory of | Mr. Jacob De Leon | who | Rendered up his Spirit to | Him who gave it on the | 29th September 1828 | aged 64 years | Eternity how long."
Jacob De Leon might thus possibly have been at the battle of Camden, but that he was a captain on De Kalb's staff is hardly imaginable. The story that De Leon, De La Motta, and Nones carried the wounded De Kalb from the field is mythical on its very face. There was no battle fought in the Revolution that has been described in such detail and by eye-witnesses as has the battle of Camden. The accounts agree in all essential details. De Kalb was shot and at once captured by the British. It is difficult to see how his own staff officers could have car- ried him from the field. (See Lossing: The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Vol. 2, pp. 461 et seq. See also Kapp: Life of De Kalb, pp. 234-6. See also the account by Colonel O. H. Williams, an eye- witness of the battle, in A Narrative of the Campaign of 1780 in the appendix to Johnson's Life of Nathanael Greene, Charleston, 1822.)
The origin of the tradition is not difficult to account for in this case. On the occasion of the visit of Lafayette to the United States in 1824-5, De Kalb's body was removed, re-interred, and a monument raised over his remains by the citizens of Camden. The corner-stone of this monu- ment was laid by General Lafayette, and the ceremonies were conducted under the Masonic auspices of Kershaw Lodge, of which Dr. Abraham De Leon was master at the time. (See Voice of Masonry and Tidings from the Craft, Vol. 1, No. 23, Louisville, Ky., 1859.) From Abraham De Leon, who took part in the ceremonies at the re-interment of De Kalb at Camden, to Jacob De Leon, who carried De Kalb from the field at Camden, is not an unintelligible transition.
It may be worth while to note here an interesting item in reference to the re-interment of De Kalb. A writer in the Baltimore Sun (1886) tells that at the battle of Camden six of the officers were Masons. Among these were several from the Maryland Line, and Major Benjamin Nones, of Philadelphia. After the death of De Kalb, who was a Mason,
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THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
an entire population never fights. Many are physically un- able to fight, and these will always form a goodly portion of a population; others are not sufficiently interested to fight, while not caring to run away; and still others, having fam- ilies dependent upon them, cannot afford to fight. That there were Jews in Charles Town who did not take any active part in the Revolution is evidenced by the minutes of testimony of a Court of Inquiry, held in 1783, which were discovered by the author, under very peculiar circumstances, in the Secretary of State's Office in Columbia .** The events that led up to this Court of Inquiry are worthy of note.
After the evacuation of Charles Town by the British in 1782 the city again came into the possession of the Ameri- cans. During the period of British occupation many of those who formerly, perhaps, had favored the patriot cause had gone back to their allegiance. It was now the patriots' inning. Feeling ran very high in Charles Town. In 1782 a Confiscation Act was passed, and a committee was ap- pointed to examine into the standing of every man in town. Many were banished forever and others were called before the committee to give an account of themselves. The Min- utes of Testimony to which we have just referred relate to
the brethren assembled and buried his remains with Masonic ceremonies. At the time of the erection of a monument over the remains, many years afterwards, Major Nones, who was present at the first burial, was appealed to in order to locate the forgotten grave, which had become level and the headboards rotted, so that it was difficult to locate the exact spot. A full account of this story will be given by Messrs. Kirkland and Kennedy in their forthcoming history of Camden.
" See The Sunday News, Nov. 29, 1903. These minutes of testimony are contained in a bundle of papers consisting of ten quarto sheets, each of them folded separately into four, thus exhibiting eight narrow pages of writing. The sheets are not in very good condition and are written in a small, crabbed, and illegible hand, with many abbreviations. The lines are close together and notes are added between the lines. They are to be deciphered only with great difficulty.
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proceedings before this committee. The papers bear the date of February and March, 1783, and contain a number of Jewish references which are here reproduced. It will be observed that each man who comes before the committee brings one or more witnesses to testify to his character. For the rest, the documents shall speak for themselves. Here are the items in the order in which they occur :
" JEWS.
" Henry Moses.
" Samuel Levy.
" Montague Simons.
" Hyam Solomons.
" Levy Solomons.
" Mordicai Lyon.
"HENRY MOSES. Came in 1S months since from N. York, is a Prussian. Never assisted the British. Has been 3 years in America. Gershon Cohen believes this Petitioner to be an honest man. Mr. Jacobs says he has had a good deal of dealing with Petitioner, he is an honest man.
"SAMUEL LEVY. Came 18 months agone. He is by birth a Ger- man, came from England to N. York. & from thence here. He has not taken an active part, did intend to go out 18 months agone but had no opportunity. Mr. Cohen says this man came as a sutler with a Hessian General and left him. Thinks him an honest man. Jacobs says same of Levy.
"MONTAGUE SIMONS. Native of London. May will be 2 years since his arrival in America, (this town.) His motive for coming here was to join his 3 Brothers in this town-bas not taken a part with the British. Cohen says this is true, believes he is honest. Jacobs says same as of Cohen.
"HYAM SOLOMONS. Has arrived about 4 months in this town, he was clerk to Messrs McGilvary and Struthers in West Florida. After the reduction of Florida he came and lived in Georgia with Mr Wm Struthers and came to Chas Town to sell a cargo of skins and remit the money. Was born in England but came out young, remembers little of that country. Cohen says this man is a man of good character.
"LEVY SOLOMON. A German, arrived about 2 years since in York and came from thence to this place. He has not interfered, but has minded only his shop. Mr. Cohen says he came from Germany with a
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THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
Hessian General, and left him, wishing to stay in this country. Jacobs bas known petitioner from a child, he is an honest man.
" MORDICAI LYON, a Polander, has been 14 months in Chas Town with a wife & child-is a taylor, has done nothing against the American cause, had enough to do to maintain his wife & children. Mr. Cohen says this is true, he is an inoffensive man. Jacobs says this is an honest man, & attentive to his work."
In the second folder, and dated February 20, 1783, we have the following :
" WOLF & others.
"MOSES SIMONS.
" HENRY HARRIS.
" Mr Gershon Cohen knows these Petitioners to be honest men. Simons keeps shop. Arrived in May last 12 month. Harris is a taylor, an honest inoffensive man. Mr. Jacobs says these petitioners are honest men."
In the fifth folder there is a very amusing item-"David Cameron's Case."
"' Moses with the big nose' testifies that he knew Cameron, that he is an industrious man, &c, &e. Mr Abrahams gives similar testimony."
There is only one more reference and that is in the eighth folder, where Mr. Gershon Cohen appears to testify for William Cox.
There were other Jews in Charles Town who did not fight, but who rendered equally valuable service to the cause. It should be remembered that during the siege of Charles Town there was no lack of fighting men, and most of the early writers have noted the fact that if there had been more men, the only purpose they could have served would have been to make provisions scarce in a shorter time. Of men who ren- dered good service to the American cause and who were not fighters we have also documentary evidence.
In The North American Review for July, 1826, page 73, Isaac Harby, referring to the Jews of the Revolution, writes :
100 THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
"My maternal grandfather contributed pecuniary aid to South Carolina, and particularly to Charleston, when be- sieged by the British. My father-in-law was a brave grena- dier in the regular American army, and fought and bled for the liberty he lived to enjoy and to hand down to his chil- dren." The maternal grandfather of Isaac Harby was Meyer Moses and his father-in-law was Samuel Mordecai. To the services rendered by Meyer Moses, General Sumter testified in after years in a letter to Franklin J. Moses, a grandson of the Jewish patriot, who had died in 1787. This letter and a testimonial of similar purport were till quite recently to be seen in Columbia, in the collection of Sumter MSS. They are no longer there, however. The following is the testi- monial : 45
" SOUTH MOUNT, October 11, 1831.
" I certify that I was well acquainted with Myer Moses. Esq, Merchant in Charleston, So. Ca. I understood and believed that he was friendly and attached to the American cause during the Revolution. I further understood and believe that his treatment to the American wounded and prisoners were such as to entitle him to the good wishes and gratitude of all those who had the success of the Revolution at heart. After the fall of Charleston his treatment to the wounded and prisoners who were taken and sent to Charleston was extremely friendly and humane, they being in the greatest possible distress. Moreover I have understood and believed that on these occasions he expended a considerable sum in re- lieving them.
(Signed) "THOS SUMTER."
Mordecai Myers, of Georgetown, was another Jew who furnished supplies to the American army.46
We have already referred to the division of sentiment that existed among the population of South Carolina and of
The author is indebted to Mr. Altamont Moses, of Sumter, for the copy.
" See Gibbes: Documentary History (1781-2), pp. 182-3. See, how- ever, also Gibbes (1776-1782), p. 160, " Gen Marion to Col. P. Horry."
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Charles Town at the outbreak of and during the Revolution. The Gazettes print the names of some who "embarked under an unhappy delusion" for other parts.47 We read of many who "left the State to join the enemies thereof." 48 Charles Town, in fact, was full of British sympathizers- witness the large lists of petitioners to Clinton, of address- ors of Cornwallis, and of Clinton and Arbuthnot. In con- versation with Moultrie, after the surrender, Captain Roch- fort, a British officer, remarked: "Sir, you have made a gallant defence. but you had a great many rascals among you who came out every night and gave us information of what was passing in your garrison." 19 Many at first, nat- urally enough, were very careful as to how they betrayed their real sentiments, When Charles Town surrendered, however, they did not hesitate to show what their senti- ments really were. Others, thinking that South Carolina would finally remain a British province, and hoping to save their property, sincerely returned to their allegiance. Still others were by necessity compelled to accept British pro- tection.50
Referring to the Jewish merchants, Ramsay remarks : "While prisoners, they were encouraged to make purchases from the British merchants who came with the conquering army, and after they had contracted large debts of this kind, were precluded by proclamation from selling the goods they had purchased, unless they assumed the name and character of British subjects." 31 This could only have been the case with a minority. The majority did not
" Gazette of the State of South-Carolina, July 8, 1778.
48 Ibid., Nov. 24, 1779.
49 Moultrie : Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 108.
59 Ramsay: The History of the Revolution in South Carolina, Vol. 2, pp. 120 et seq.
31 Ibid.
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take protection or swear allegiance, but left Charles Town after the surrender.
About August or September, 1780, many citizens of Charles Town presented a petition to the Commandant set- ting forth "that they were very desirous to show every mark of allegiance and attachment to his Majesty's person and Government, to which they were most sincerely well affected, and, therefore, humbly prayed that they might have an opportunity to evince the sincerity of their profes- sions." This petition was referred to "gentlemen of known loyalty and integrity, as well as knowledge of the persons and characters of the inhabitants, in order to report the manner in which the Memorialists had heretofore conducted themselves." This committee reported favorably in the cases of one hundred and sixty-six citizens, including the following Jews: Joseph Myers, Saul Simons, Abraham Al- exander. Moses Eliazer, Philip Cohen, Marcus Lazarus, Philip Moses.52
Of these Marcus (Markes or Marks) Lazarus and Philip Moses had been soldiers in the war, and for some or other reason now swore allegiance. Abraham Alexander was the minister of Beth Elohim, and the Synagogue Consti- tution of 1820 (Rule XX) tells us that Rabbi Moses Eleizar was "a learned man in the laws of God, and until his death had taught the youth of this congregation and manifested unremitted zeal to promote religion in this country."
There is no evidence to show and no reason for supposing that these men were not expressing their real convictions when they, together with many of the most prominent citi- zens of Charles Town, signed the petition to Sir Henry Clin-
5% The Royal South-Carolina Gazette, Sept. 21, 1780. The original oaths of allegiance are still in existence and can be seen in the British State Paper Office, London.
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ton.53 Some of them had doubtless been loyal from the start, and as for those who had taken an active part in the war, they felt that they had fought a good fight, but that now "the game was up"-to use the language of common parlance. And why blame them for returning to their alle- giance? Was it not most natural? Who, living in Charles Town in 1780, could have dreamt that subsequent events would take the turn they did? Those who refused to take protection were deprived of every means of making a living. The only alternative was starvation. Judging by the num- ber and character of those who took protection, the senti- ment must, indeed, have been very strong that the Revolu- tion would prove a failure and that South Carolina would finally remain a British province. It is most natural that under the circumstances men should strive to save the little property that remained to them.
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